Surfing Waves

Hey guys

One of my recent purchases is a 6'3 thumb tail that i've been having a blast on lately.
I can drop in super late and still hold a stable line that has inspired my confidence more than any other board i've ridden!

I contacted the shaper to find out more details about the board in the hope of getting a custom version made in the future.
He came back with the attached spec sheet which is a lot more detail than what i'm used to seeing and didn't really explain the boards characteristics aside from the spec sheets dimensions. I can see its got a flat entry, light single to moderate double concave and has decent entry rocker with a bit of tail rocker but I don't have any of my current boards dimensions at the nose or tail etc to compare it to.

Would any of the more experienced forum members or shapes be able to tell me what the board might be made for / best suited to / or other characteristics that it would've been made for?
It's an EPS board with the 'futurelite' construction of carbon parabolic rods running around the rails of the board with carbon tail patches too.
It's also got hard edgy rails from about 8cm further forward than the front side fins too.

Cheers!~

benjl wrote:Hey guys

One of my recent purchases is a 6'3 thumb tail that i've been having a blast on lately.
I can drop in super late and still hold a stable line that has inspired my confidence more than any other board i've ridden!
....

Would any of the more experienced forum members or shapes be able to tell me what the board might be made for / best suited to / or other characteristics that it would've been made for?

Given your first two sentences (having a blast, inspiring confidence), its a board that is suited to you at this stage. So I wouldn't worry about the rest of it. It works, it works - why are you even thinking of your next board already? Just enjoy having fun and using this board - use it for the next 2 or 3 years, or more

If you find a wave that it doesn't seem to work on, then you will know not to use it ... that said, I suspect its good for steeper type waves, probably wont work too well on fat or point waves. It does have an almost continuous rocker (ie curves from nose right through to tail, apart from a small flat bit in the middle), which aids turning but will generally mean you need to maintain your speed (hence you need a steeper wave). Harder to paddle and requires a later take off. Its fairly wide though with a thick middle, so that will aid paddling and wave catching. Not a 'high performance' board, but not a fish type board - more toward the standard shortboard end of the spectrum

You might want to grab a copy of that book Jaffa reviewed and explore the intricacies of board design

https://surfing-waves.com/review/the ... d-book.htm

btw, the 'aku shaper' is the blueprints that get put into a computerised shaping machines

Thanks for the info DTC. I'm not ready to move on from it yet but I just enjoy finding out all the spec side of things and how they impact upon my board and surfing.

Funnily enough I got my gf to order me that book as my xmas present but it still hasn't arrived yet it's been a long 3 week wait.. Can't wait to have a read!

Having good nose and tail rockers help with steep drops. The hard rails on the back help to create less drag (which means more speed). The single concave in the tail would also add lift which intuitively to me means speed once you get moving. It looks to me like there is a sort of flat area in the middle which would help to glide you through soft areas if you place your weight there (front foot) (also if you want speed without turning like when you are tubed). The tail rocker and round pin tail will be good for turning also.

Thanks OMS- i was just looking in to the rail aspects myself and it sounds about considering my experiences of being able to drop in very late on waves but still having that stability and tracking from the hard rail. Would you say the back is a single and not slight double concave?

I've currently been running it with quads. Would you have any insight based on the design as to whether it would run better with thruster or quads and what type might complement the boards features?

I don't see a double concave there in the design but is there one? on the back 12 inches? it looks like the board has a very slight concave almost flat that gets slightly more pronounced in the tail. I am not sure what you are saying about tracking but perhaps that has to do with the quad setup. You know I used to do radical steep drops with a longboard. It's all a matter of learning how to manage it and I guess doing so helps me to do better on my fungun which is way easier to keep from pearling. The long board has a little rocker in the nose and a good rocker in the tail. I could stomp the tail to pop the nose up if it started to pearl. I also learned to push the inside rail into the wave at the top which gives you the best angle to start turning when you get down to the curvy part of the wave. I think a quad will hold better on a steep face but I am not sure of the interactions between fin setups and board design.

Benji, you are just confusing yourself more and more. Too much info is too much. When I order a Big Mac, I take it to the table and enjoy eating it. I don't want to know ( or probably scared to find out ! ) where the cow was , what wheat the flour came out of, what the p.h. content of the soil the tomato was grown in. A surfboard is a tool. Like a hammer or a screwdriver. More the skill on how you use it versus what it is made of. A professional mechanic may demand to use Snap-on, Mac tools, etc. But I am sure in a emergency, they'll use a dollar store screwdriver if it's in reach.

Remember what you looking at is the spec for the Aku shaper that spits out a rough shape that has fine lines left over. The shaper then scrubs down the blank to smooth out and ad the concave,V's, rail edge and tail design. The computer doesn't do that. The "magic" happens when the shapers hands touch the blank. That what separates the good shapers from the bad. But the computer blanks have made it that much easier for the "scrubbers" to make a decent board compared to the real "shapers", since the rocker and template is already done for them.

WOW! So waikikichan you are saying that is a computerized shape? Some computerized shaping machine makes a board like that? Then a human shaper adds to it? Interesting. Next thing there will be 3D printed surfboards make an order and have it printed out locally later the same day.

liquid carbon fiber in a 3D shaper. Bring your data with you. Put it in the machine, out pops a board. Technology is almost there. The surfboard shaping machines are amazing. Some have the blade that moves around the board while other the board moves while the blade stays in place. It really helped the good shapers cut down on time not having to pull out there templates and hand saw out the outline. Then later have to mow foam with the planer. But that also allowed "scrubbers" to take a real shapers data and make surfboards similar in look but not ride.



this photo doesn't show the "ends" left over on the rough cut blank.


little better view of the end on the nose.